Heartstorm trotted beside Eelfrost. Brightpaw trotted in front of them, head held high and tail twitching happily. 

            "She's really good at fighting," Eelfrost told Heartstorm proudly. "You'll see for yourself." Eelfrost had suggested that Heartstorm came to training as Eelfrost wanted to train Brightpaw to fight two opponents. They reached the clearing and Brightpaw started running laps without Eelfrost saying anything. Heartstorm was impressed and slightly nervous. He hadn't fought for a long time and he suddenly felt as if he might mess everything up in front of his daughter. 

           "Hey, why so jittery?" asked Eelfrost. 

           "Nah, it's nothing," shrugged Heartstorm. When Brightpaw had finished running for laps, she trotted up to them. 

            "Let's start with what we've already learnt," Eelfrost said. Brightpaw nodded. "Back kick first." Eelfrost stood in front of Brightpaw, shuffling side ways. Suddenly, Brightpaw lashed out. In an explosive quick movement, Brightpaw's back legs swept from under her feet and knocked into Eelfrost. She put her weight on her front paws. Eelfrost stumbled back, grinning broadly. Brightpaw regained balance quickly. Heartstorm was impressed and extremely proud. 

             "Again," announced Eelfrost. Brightpaw did it again and again till she could do it with her eyes closed. "Now the belly rake." Eelfrost shuffled towards Brightpaw and she leapt to his side before sliding underneath his stomach, raking her sheathed claws on her underbelly. Heartstorm nodded, extremely proud. 

            "Leap and hold now," Eelfrost ordered. Brightpaw executed the move perfectly. "Right, we're warmed up. Let's get into a real fight. I want you to use everything I've taught you. Remember, judge your opponent's strength, balance, flexibility, speed and where they are. If they are facing you, sideways, on their back, stomach or if they have their back against you. All these things are important, these signs will tell you which move will be best to use. Understood?" 

            "Yes," nodded Brightpaw confidently. Eelfrost nodded and flicked his tail, signalling the start. Heartstorm watched as Brightpaw and Eelfrost crouched in front of each other. Heartstorm hadn't realised how good Eelfrost was at fighting as well. He was even more glad that Eelfrost was Brightpaw's mentor. Suddenly, Brightpaw lashed out, going for a front paw blow. Eelfrost dodged and rammed into her. She fell to the ground but rolled over with Eelfrost. She was now on top of him. She clawed at his stomach. He pushed her off. She stumbled back but regained balance quickly. She lashed out with an explosive back kick. Eelfrost was thrown off balance and she used this. She leapt onto his back and he collapsed to the ground. He was bigger and stronger so she could not pin him down. Instead, she grabbed his scruff and shook. He pushed her away but she did not back off. As he staggered up, she swiped out her front paw and he stumbled back. Eelfrost looked dazed but suddenly, he leapt to the side then caught Brightpaw's scruff in his mouth. He was stronger and held on. She wriggled, trying to get out. 

          "Remember what I said. Wriggling will not help," Eelfrost told her through clenched teeth. Brightpaw stopped a moment, thinking. Then she let herself fall to the ground. In a swift moment, she then brought out her right paw and hit Eelfrost hard in the stomach. He wavered slightly but held her scruff in his mouth. Then she twisted around and bit Eelfrost on the neck. This time, he leapt back. 

           "Good job," he said, breathing heavily. "That's how you do it." Brightpaw smiled then swiped at Eelfrost's foot to unbalance him. He dodged quickly and hit her on the stomach. She twisted around in time to catch his tail in her mouth. Eelfrost let out a growl and leapt at her. They rolled to the ground until Brightpaw finally managed to break free and get hold of Eelfrost's scruff. She shook it hard then let go. Eelfrost rolled to his feet, panting. 

            "Nice," he congratulated. "Better than yesterday." Brightpaw beamed, happy for the compliment. 

           "Thanks," she said. 

           "That was great Brightpaw. I'm not going to worry about you in battle," Heartstorm told his daughter proudly. 

            "That's what I'm training her for. So nobody has to worry about her getting hurt," nodded Eelfrost. "Right, take a break, that was very good. We'll come back and start on the basics of fighting two opponents at once." Brightpaw nodded enthusiastically and quickly trotted off to the river to drink some water. 

            "You're a great mentor," gushed Heartstorm. "You've taught her so much."

           "She's an incredibly fast learner," Eelfrost shrugged. "I'm doing my best." 

             "You're best is great," Heartstorm assured Eelfrost. A few minutes later, Brightpaw came trotting back, ready for another lesson. 

           "Alright, sometimes, you're going to find yourself facing two enemies at the same time," Eelfrost told Brightpaw seriously. "I did not learn much about this kind of fighting till the last moon of my apprenticeship. I would have loved to have more training on it though because I think it's very important. So that's why we're starting with it early." Brightpaw nodded.  

            "We'll start easy because fighting two cats at the same time is very different," continued Eelfrost. "We will start with the scenario where you are fighting one cat and another one of his or her Clanmate comes along to help. Firstly, in battle, you must always be aware of your surroundings. You must be able to see, even when you're fighting somebody, what is going on around you. You do not want anybody creeping up on you. We are going to do fights where another cat will creep up on you, but not now. First I want to teach you how to defend yourself if two cats come at you." Eelfrost nodded for Heartstorm to stand beside him, facing Brightpaw. "If we are both standing here, in front of you, it is the easiest way to deal with us. You have to be able to distract one of us long enough for you to take the other one down before anything happens. Understood? If you were in this position, what would you do?" Brightpaw thought a moment then took a deep breath. Eelfrost crouched and Heartstorm did the same, fixing his eyes on Brightpaw. He found himself knowing exactly what kind of moves he would do if Brightpaw really were an enemy. Brightpaw suddenly lashed out her right paw into Heartstorm's face. He was blinded and surprised. He staggered away. He shook himself quickly and leapt back to the fight to see Brightpaw clawing at Eelfrost's belly. She turned to him and charged at him. She leapt at him but he dodged. She rolled to the ground and jumped to her feet. 

           "very good!" congratulated Eelfrost. "You distracted Heartstorm, got rid of me then got back to Heartstorm. Of course, it won't be as easy in real battle. For example, Heartstorm you should have seen your face! Ha! Next time, your enemy won't be as surprised and as quickly dazed." Heartstorm huffed but Brightpaw nodded enthusiastically. 

           "This is what you must do... " Eelfrost explained. The whole afternoon, Heartstorm helped Eelfrost with training. When Heartstorm returned back to camp, he almost felt like an apprentice himself. He was slightly aching but it felt good. He realised that fighting had made him feel more alive. He took a deep breath of fresh air, flexing his claws. He shook his head, feeling the soreness spread through his shoulders. It felt good. 

            "Hey Heartstorm!" came a voice. It was Sparkbelly. He was healthy again and just as optimistic as before.         

             "Hi Sparkbelly," smiled Heartstorm. "Making any advanced on Rosebriar?" 

             "Nothing so far," sighed Sparkbelly. "I think she's more into Hawkflight. he's younger. Oh well." Sparkbelly shrugged. "I think if I'm going to lead a lone life forever, I might as well make the best of it." Heartstorm furrowed his eyebrows. 

               "Don't say that," Heartstorm said lightly. 

               "Don't worry, I don't mean it in a bad way. I think I'll be fine, alone," shrugged Sparkbelly. "I have the Clan. Do you miss them?" 

              "Who?" asked Heartstorm as they walked together. 

              "Well Crowkit and Lilykit of course," exclaimed Sparkbelly. The WindClan kits had not been on Heartstorm's mind for a long time. 

              "Oh...," he said, thinking back to the cute kits. He knew they were meant to be in WindClan. "Well, I guess. They were nice kits. But we were never going to be with them forever." 

               "Yeah... well, they were there during the whole time I was in the medicine den," Sparkbelly said. "so I did grow attached. Ravenfall was nice too." 

              "He was," shrugged Heartstorm. "But he had to be. We took him in." 

             "Yeah. Well I got to know him. He's really fun," Sparkbelly said. "Anyways, I didn't want to talk to you about that. I wanted to talk to you about your kits." 

              "My kits? What about them?" asked Heartstorm.

             "I don't know, what about them?" Sparkbelly said, looking at Heartstorm expectantly. "Tell me about them." 

               "Oh," Heartstorm said, nodding. "Well, I just trained with Brightpaw. I'm so proud of her. She was great. I've never- I don't know if I'm being biased but she's like the best apprentice ever. She's so good at fighting. Swift, strong and smart. Honestly, if I went into battle with her, I'd be more afraid for the cats going against her."